Australasia
Beyond Cattle and Sheep: The Islamic Education and Finance Industries in Australia
By Zulfikar M. Shariff
Sep 1, 2006, 15:59

The land of cattle and sheep. That is how the Australian Halal industry seems to be perceived by non Australians. True, New Zealand is better known for sheep (or at least for Australians), but whenever the Halal industry is discussed outside of Australia, the most common interest is in Australian meat.

Australia does produce quality meat products. With the keenness of the abattoirs to meet Islamic requirements and the non shortage of Halal certifying bodies in Australia (18 bodies at last count) Halal meat is easily obtainable.

Melbourne, a multicultural city of five million and regularly rated as the world’s most liveable city, is also home to more than 100,000 Muslims. Halal butchery is always a short drive away and Sydney Road, the road that links Melbourne to Sydney, albeit almost 900km away, is scattered with Turkish kebab shops, Lebanese grocers and several major butcheries.

The signboard for Medina Halal meat, one of the most popular Halal butchery in Australia, can easily be seen amidst others notifying potential customers of Persian rugs and Harley Davidson motorcycles.

However, meat is not all that the Halal industry or even Muslims in Australia has to offer. While the Muslim population is slowly increasing, the Islamic market is expanding in leaps. Two important emerging industries are education and finance.

Education is an important industry in Australia. With quality universities like University of Melbourne, Monash University, Australia National University and with more than 230,000 international students from about 195 countries, the education industry is fast recognised as valuable and vital. Malaysia alone sends 19,500 students to Australian tertiary institutions.

The emerging Australian education industry is not just confined to tertiary education however. Islamic education in Australia is fast growing with more than 20 Islamic colleges around the country. Still in its nascent stage, with most Islamic colleges established only in the 1990s, the growth and its engagement with the wider society and government makes Australian Islamic colleges an excellent platform for students who want to study in Australia and yet retain their Islamic identity.

Islamic Colleges follow the state-sanctioned curriculum with Islamic subjects included as part of the curriculum. Mr Selim Kayikci, vice principal of Ilim College said, “Ilim College provides an Islamic environment that encourages high achievement and focused ambition and equip students with enough knowledge and confidence to put Islamic beliefs, values and morals into practice in their own lives.”

Islamic colleges provide a strong foundation for students to enrol in Australian universities. By the time students enrol in university, their command of English, knowledge of culture and the educational system will be well established. Bridging the divide between Islam and the West, graduates of Islamic colleges in Australia will gain greater appreciation living as Muslims in an Islamic environment within a Western country.

The bridging of the Islam-Western divide is done on various scales in Australia. Apart from the various community-government and multicultural organisations that seek to improve relations, the government’s continued appreciation of Islamic finance as an industry that is due recognition provides a stronger platform for the continuous mutual respect and understanding between the cultures.

One example of the respect accorded to Muslims is the relative ease with which the Muslim Community Cooperative (Australia) Ltd (MCCA), Australia’s largest Islamic finance and investment organisation engaged with the Victorian government for the exemption of double stamp duty.

Founded in 1989 with an initial capital of a little more than AU$20,000, MCCA initially started by providing Murabaha and Musharakah type house financing to the Muslim community. However, given the need for assets to be transacted in both systems, MCCA clientele had to pay stamp duty in multiples when the property is first purchased by MCCA and sold at the end of the contract.

However, when the team led by Dr Abdul Rahim Ghouse, General Manager of MCCA met with the Victorian State Revenue Office (SRO) in October 2003 and in subsequent meetings, they found that SRO is not only tolerant of Muslim needs, but is also appreciative of the development of Islamic financing.

As a result, within just one year since the initial meeting, the Victorian government gave bipartisan support to the tax amendment to exempt payment of double stamp duty in Shariah compliant financing with Royal Assent granted on 19th October 2004. MCCA then proceeded to engage the Office of State Revenue in New South Wales and has been given a waiver for Murabaha financing from double stamp duty.

During The World Halal Forum in May, it was illuminating to see how much Muslims in Australia is able to engage on equal footing with the federal and state governments. While Muslims in other Western countries detailed their difficulties in gaining recognition for Islamic financing, MCCA has been able to not just encourage the state government to amend the Tax Act, but was able to work with the regulators on various levels.

MCCA also engaged with the Uniform Consumer Credit Code Management Committee, the organization that governs consumer-financing organisation relationship, to exempt Islamic financing from using the word “interest”.

These recognitions of Islamic requirements reflect the openness from both sides - the Muslim community and the government - to not only engage, but work out mutually beneficial solutions. As a result, Australia is now able to provide financing products that suits Islamic requirements. And as a consequence, it allows organisations such as MCCA to develop more products that complies with both Australian and Islamic laws.

As an example, MCCA is launching in July 2006, the Crescent Ethical Managed Discretionary Account (Crescent Ethical MDA), an investment product that allows investors to invest in the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) through Shariah screened shares. It attracts investments from Muslims internationally who want to invest in the strong Australian market but requires it to be done according to Shariah requirements.

In the next few months, MCCA is launching several other investment products to attract greater investment, which will not only benefit the Muslim community, but also Australia as a whole.

While the cattle and sheep market has dominated discussions about the Halal industry in Australia, the education and Islamic finance industries are emerging to provide greater avenues for development of the Halal industry in Australia while serving the international Muslim market.



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